One of the most difficult places at school can be the place that is supposed to be the most fun - the playground.

Without supervision, the playground can become a place of dread where children encounter bullies, conflicts and intimidation rather than cheerful play partners.

But a nationwide program new to Gresham is working to change that. Playworks, a national nonprofit organization with a vision that every child will have access to safe and healthy play, has partnered with Gresham's Highland Elementary School. There, students play among coaches and junior coaches, developing new social skills in a culture that is positive and supportive for everyone.

"It's about making recess count," said Jonathan Blasher, executive director for Playworks Portland. "It's about playing for fun and playing for life."

Playworks operates on the assumption that kids learn as they play.

"When recess is a fun and positive experience, kids learn positive behaviors," Blasher said. "When they return to class after a positive experience, they're more readily able to focus and learn."

Nationwide, however, recess has become an increasingly troublesome time. For an average recess of 22 minutes, if they have recess at all, students often stand around or play games where anything goes. Some engage in fights, others bully classmates and still others retreat into isolation.

Playworks' core program, as implemented at Highland Elementary this year, works with low income schools, where half or more of the students qualify for federally subsidized free and reduced-price lunches. High poverty schools see more problems on the playground, studies show.

With the use of program coordinators, or what Playworks calls coaches, students learn through role models how to play together and appropriate ways to resolve conflicts.

"Coaches and junior coaches make sure everyone is welcome and everyone feels included," she adds. "Every school partnering with Playworks has its own coach."

New to Highland this year is Vivanh Dinh, 26, otherwise known as Coach V.

Clad in his Playworks T-shirt, Dinh arrives at Highland each morning before the bell and leaves after the last student is gone. He also leads children in after school and weekend activities.

"Coach V. is such a positive role model among our students," said Rebecca Kadrmas, Principal at Highland. "He's right in there with the kids and builds a really strong relationship with them."

The program is not about victimizing or demonizing anyone, said Dinh, who focuses on positive language and inclusiveness.

"No one is different," he said. "No one is picked out because of their personalities or physical differences. It's all about using positive language to bring everyone together."

With his team of junior coaches, typically fourth- or fifth-graders from the school, Dinh has helpers throughout recess.

Selected for their leadership potential and example-setting behavior, junior coaches - designated by their purple T-shirts - help set up games at recess and play among their peers.

Fourth-grader Divine Nijimbere is one of Highland's 13 junior coaches. "I wanted to be a junior coach so I could play with different kids and be a role model," she said.

Peer-to-peer role modeling is key in helping kids learn how to play together without adults, Blasher said.

"The junior coaches encourage different kids to play together and resolve conflicts among themselves," he said.

One way they do that, said Dinh, is with a popular game called rock, scissors, paper.

Similar to a coin toss or drawing straws, the game is incorporated into the Playworks model. In a game of four square, for example, two students disagree on where the ball lands. Instead of an argument, they settle the conflict with rock, scissors, paper. The game helps students resolve conflicts quickly in a fun way.